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Ruidoso man swept up in drug investigation

Charges involve methamphetamine trafficking and firearms

By Dianne Stallings

dstallings@ruidosonews.com @RuidosoNews on Twitter

Posted:
01/28/2014 04:29:12 PM MST

An early morning massive drug round-up Friday netted 39 individuals living in the counties of Lincoln, Chaves and Eddy, and one from West Texas. They face drug trafficking and firearms charges as the result of a multi-agency investigation targeting drug traffickers in southeastern New Mexico, according to information from the office of Acting U.S. States Attorney Steven C. Yarbrough.

The investigation, which initially targeted a methamphetamine trafficking organization allegedly led by Israel Mireles-Rivera, expanded to other trafficking activity in the area and culminated when 27 of the defendants were arrested in an enforcement operations led by the Drug Enforcement Administration and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Region VI Pecos Valley Drug Task Force, the news release stated, Another 13 of the defendants were arrested during the course of the investigation.

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office was noted as one of the agencies that participated in the law enforcement operation Friday. The only defendant listed as arrested from Lincoln County was Odilon Campana-Campos, 46, Ruidoso. The criminal complaint against Campana-Campos, which was unavailable Tuesday, was filed in the Fifth Judicial District Court as a state case. Three defendants were from or arrested in Roswell, and 22 from Carlsbad. New Mexico court records show a previous conviction for Campana-Campos on possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana, one ounce or less, handled in Carrizozo Magistrate Court in February 2011.

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The results of the investigation were announced by Yarbrough, Fifth Judicial District Attorney Janetta B. Hicks, Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit of the DEA's El Paso Division, Eddy County Sheriff Scott M. London, Carlsbad Police Chief Kent Waller and Commander James McCormick of the HIDTA Region VI task force.

The investigation was designated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force operation, a nationwide Department of Justice program that combines the resources and expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations, the release stated.

During the course of the investigation, officers seized more than five pounds of methamphetamines, about $53,400 and 24 firearms, including evidence seized during the arrests of Mireles-Rivera and Rodrigo Ivan Chaves last October, according to the release. Mireles-Rivera, 32, a Mexican national illegally in the United States, was arrested in Carlsbad, and was indicted on methamphetamine trafficking and firearm charges. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison on the methamphetamine trafficking charges and a maximum of 10 years in prison on the firearm charge, the release states.

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